The four of them stood silently in a circle, in the parking lot of the mall. Snow melted silently in patches on the curb. Off to the side in a grove of trees, birds chirped in the still morning air.

"It's so peaceful here," Jay remarked, smoking his cigarette. "I grew up in these suburbs. It's so different from the city."

"Yeah, but a shopping mall?" Jamie remarked. She shivered slightly as a short breeze blew past her. At the mall entrance, a family of three left the doors and made their way towards a lonely parked SUV.

"It doesn't matter," Jay retorted. "What could go wrong? There's no danger here, none whatsoever. Not even the rentacops care." He gestured with his cigarette towards a mall security truck parked along a curb, further down.

There was a brief moment of contemplation among the group.

Peter's hands retreated to the pockets of his down coat. "Remember when this place actually had life to it? When we were kids? Now it's a ghost town," he remarked. He removed a hand to indicate the mere dozen vehicles in the entire expanse of parking lot visible to them.

"Yeah," Jay nodded, stubbing out the cigarette. He had nothing more to say to that. He started across the lot, towards the trees. "Come on, guys. Let's go find something interesting."